Peter Kerr will take over as CFO at
Mount Gibson Iron
in September, following the departure of present finance chief Alan Rule this month for Paladin Resources.

Kerr has been CFO of uranium developer
Bannerman Resources
since early 2009. The company recently completed a feasibility study for its Etango project in south-west Namibia.

During his notice period, he said he wanted to complete some of the financing and development of the project, including finalising an agreement with the state-owned Epangelo Mining Company to take a stake in the resource.

“That transaction is to buy 5 per cent of the uranium project and with an option to take an additional 5 per cent, and that transaction will take an additional one to two months to be finalised," he said.

Kerr has had numerous roles in the resource sector in base and precious metals, including managing director of Northern Gold, and executive roles in Canadian coal, zinc, copper and goldminer Teck Caminco and gold producer PacMin Mining Corporation.

His appointment follows the departure of former chief executive Luke Tonkin in December from Mount Gibson. Tonkin was replaced by recently appointed chief operating officer Jim Beyer in May. Tonkin has since become managing director of Reed Resources.

A new chairman, Geoffrey Hill, was hired prior to Tonkin’s resignation and new independent board members have been announced over the last year. In November 2011, the Financial Investments Review Board questioned the lack of independent directors on the Mount Gibson board.

Kerr said it was too early to comment on his immediate tasks in the new role at Mount Gibson Iron.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

“The company is an iron ore producer from three operations in Australia and is producing significant cash from those operations," he said. Their sites are at Tallering Peak, Koolan Island and Extension Hill.

The company’s share price has fallen steadily since February from more than $1.40 to just above 80¢ last month, with some recovery in the last couple of weeks.

At Mount Gibson’s last half-year results, it had cash of $421 million at the end of December and a net profit after tax for the first half of the 2011-12 financial year of $121.2 million, down 13.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period.